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Government to open cinemas and houses of culture in Georgian villages

Netgazeti reports that the Georgian Minister of Culture and Monument Protection Guram Odisharia has unveiled plans to revive the cultural life of Georgian villages by encouraging the creation of cinemas and houses of culture.

The Minister said at a press conference on April 24th that life stops in towns and villages as soon as the sun goes down. However, Odisharia explained that his ministry will soon make everyday life in the regions more interesting. According to Odisharia, houses of culture will not only show plays and films but also host talks of various individuals from the arts.

"Young people will have an opportunity to meet interesting people and share in the cultural life that is essential for the capital Tbilisi." Odisharia said.

The Minister thinks that this initiative might prevent young people from leaving villages and thus help the regions overcome a 20 year cultural crisis.



Public self-government is the precondition for engagement

Liberali reports a group of NGOs held a conference at the Tbilisi Marriot Hotel over the issues of municipal government reform and legislative changes. The proposed legislative changes aim at decentralizing the country and creating a truly democratic system in Georgia.

Gia Zhorzholiani, Head of the Parliamentary Committee of Regional and Self-government, said the government has been strongly centralized for the last 20 years, which he said is a problem for all post-Soviet countries, and not only the former United National Movement (UNM) government of Georgia.

"Our goal is to engage people in the political and social life of the country." Zhorzholiani said.

Members of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) think that the public should be informed as much as possible about this decentralization process because they should know what kinds of reform the government is planning to carry out in the country and how these changes will affect their lives.

Zviad Devdariani, Director of the Civil Development Agency (CiDA) welcomes transparency in the decentralization process. He said CiDA plans to carry out a survey to identify problems people are facing nowadays and thus ensure that the planned reform is relevant to their needs.

He said after the reforms will be implemented it will be easier to explain to the public how it has dealt with their problems.